Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Commonwealth: Homosexuality

Lord Black of Brentwood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any assessment of the impact of the criminalisation of homosexuality by Commonwealth countries on economic development and business investment in those countries.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We have not carried out a specific assessment of the impact of the criminalisation of homosexuality on economic development and business investment in Commonwealth countries. However, we welcomed the reports of the Williams Institute of November 2014 and the recent report from the Human Dignity Trust of November 2015 which clearly set out the economic case for the decriminalisation of homosexuality.We are committed to combating discrimination and violence against Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGB&T) throughout the Commonwealth. We utilised every opportunity at the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to highlight our belief that the Commonwealth must stand up for human rights, including LGB&T rights, around the world. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), made this clear during an intervention at the retreat and subsequently in his press statement. Additionally, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for International Development, the noble Baroness Verma, also spoke in favour of addressing LGB&T issues while chairing a session at the People’s Forum. We look forward to working with the new Commonwealth Secretary-General on this issue when she takes up her position in April 2016.

Papua: Press Freedom

Lord Harries of Pentregarth: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will press the government of Indonesia to implement the recommendations of the Human Rights Watch report Something to Hide? Indonesia’s Restrictions on Media Freedom and Rights Monitoring in Papua; and in particular whether they plan to ask the government of Indonesia to (1) issue a specific written directive instructing all relevant ministries and security forces to (a) comply with the decision in May to lift restrictions on foreign media access to Papua and West Papua, and (b) stop restricting the operations of international NGOs and the movement of their staff in Papua and West Papua; (2) instruct the National Police to stop requiring accredited Indonesia-based foreign correspondents to apply for travel permits to report from Papua and West Papua; and (3) instruct the National Police, the Armed Forces and the State Intelligence Agency to (a) investigate fully incidents in which their staff do not comply with the lifting of restrictions on foreign media and international NGOs’ personnel, or impede, obstruct, harass or arbitrarily detain them, and (b) prevent the surveillance, harassment, and intimidation of, and violence against, Indonesian journalists in Papua and investigate incidents in which such abuses allegedly occurred.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We welcome the Indonesian government’s commitment to improving the situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. This includes President Joko Widodo’s visit in May, when he granted clemency to a number of prisoners and announced the lifting of travel restrictions for foreign journalists. Since May, a number of foreign journalists have successfully visited and reported from the region. Staff from our Embassy in Jakarta visit Indonesia's provinces regularly, discussing our concerns with relevant authorities. Our Ambassador visited Papua in May, where he discussed ways to ensure the sustainable and equitable development of the provinces with members of the police, and religious and community leaders. We will continue to raise concerns where we have them with the appropriate authorities across Indonesia.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Tickets: Sales

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many complaints the Citizens Advice consumer helpline has received about ticket resale websites.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government has not made a separate assessment of complaints made to the Citizens Advice Helpline at this time , but the Government is committed to reducing consumer detriment from ticket mis-selling and is supporting an independently-led review of consumer protection measures for ticket re-sale websites. The Government awaits the recommendations of this Review and will report its conclusions to Parliament by 26 May 2016.

Automation

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the claim by the Bank of England that up to 15 million jobs in Britain are at risk from increased mechanisation.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Bank of England has made an important contribution to the debate about how technological developments will shape work and the labour market.While assessments often focus on the jobs at risk from technological change, the wider effects of such changes can also be to create jobs. The UK economy has adapted well to previous changes related to automation and globalisation, with over 2.5 million people moving between jobs each year, and it is now experiencing record rates (73.7%) and levels (31.2 million) of employment.The Government is taking action to provide individuals with the skills that will help prepare them for changes to the labour market. Activities include the new school computing curriculum, developing new apprenticeship standards, growing the apprenticeships programme and recently announcing the Institute for Coding.​​Furthermore, the Government’s Horizon Scanning Programme Team is working with officials across departments to explore the implications for policy – including employment – of automation. This has included meeting the experts who created the methodology underlying the Bank of England’s analysis.

Business: EU Law

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are holding discussions about reducing EU regulation of UK business.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Reducing the burden of EU regulation is a critical element of stimulating jobs, competitiveness and growth in Europe. We welcome the European Commission’s recent progress in this area, but want them to go further. Together with other like-minded Member States, we are pressing the Commission to bring forward proposals for an EU target to cut the total burden on business, in line with the Prime Minister’s EU reform letter to European Council President Tusk.

Students: Disadvantaged

Baroness Burt of Solihull: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what funding will be provided to assist with the delivery of their commitment to double the proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds entering higher education by 2020.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: We will be issuing a grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England early in the New Year outlining the Government’s priorities for expenditure through the teaching grant, including on widening access. This will take account of the announcements made in the Spending Review on. The Director of Fair Access has agreed 183 Access Agreements for 2016/17 containing an estimated £745m to support the access and success of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, up from £404m in 2009/10.

Universities

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they treat universities that receive public funding as private or public institutions.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: In general, universities that receive public grant funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England are private institutions.However there are instances where the law does consider them to be public authorities. For example, they are listed in Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as public authorities for the purposes of that Act. However, for the purposes of the Human Rights Act 1998, they are considered to be ‘hybrid’ public authorities, which means that that Act only applies to their public functions, and not their private ones.

Department for International Development

Burma: Health Services

Baroness Tonge: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to increase their financial assistance for family planning and sexual and reproductive health and rights in Myanmar, in the light of the reduction in funding by other donors.

Baroness Verma: DFID is helping to improve the health of the poorest and most vulnerable people in Burma, including funding programmes to increase access to modern methods of family planning and other reproductive health services. We are supporting the 3MDG health fund in Burma with nearly £90 million between 2010 and 2017. The 3MDG health fund is providing family planning services for a population of 4.4 million. DFID is currently reviewing our approach for all country programmes for the next five years as part of the government’s overall spending review.

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to co-ordinate the work of the various relief organisations in Syria.

Baroness Verma: Despite our best efforts, the UN appeals for Syria and the region remain critically underfunded. It is therefore critical that UN agencies use the most cost efficient and effective methods to deliver assistance to refugees in the region. The UK is at the forefront of efforts to ensure that this is the case and there have been substantial improvements in coordination – which saves lives – over the past year.

Balkans: Refugees

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they and the major aid agencies have made for protecting refugees who are still in, or are crossing, south-east Europe this winter.

Baroness Verma: The UK has so far provided nearly £16 million to ensure migrants and refugees arriving in and travelling through Europe are provided with warmth, comfort and lifesaving humanitarian support and protection during the winter. DFID is funding humanitarian organisations such as the Red Cross, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration, as well as humanitarian NGOs in southern Europe and the Balkans. These organisations are tailoring interventions to meet the needs of children, families and older people. This includes medical assistance, special transport services to help keep families together and support the most vulnerable, referral of children and other vulnerable people to specialised services, and efforts to reunite families that have become separated during their journey. We have also delivered in-kind assistance via the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism. Through this, the UK has provided migrants and refugees in Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia with blankets, sleeping bags and tents so that 11,000 people in each country are provided with warmth and comfort during the winter.

Developing Countries: Religious Freedom

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what powers they have to insist that recipients of British development aid should respect freedom of conscience and religion, as defined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Baroness Verma: The UK attaches great importance to ensuring that people of all faiths can participate fully in society and live without fear of abuse or discrimination. DFID works closely with the FCO to raise concerns about freedom of religion with partner governments to ensure that all citizens can claim their rights. The UK’s development and humanitarian aid is not targeted at specific groups but at the poorest, regardless of race, religion, creed, or nationality.Before providing aid to a foreign government, DFID assesses the government’s commitment to four partnership principles, one of which concerns human rights. DFID provides aid to governments where we are satisfied that they share our commitments to reduce poverty and to respect human rights.

The Lord Chairman of Committees

House of Lords: Gratuities

Lord Storey: To ask the Chairman of Committees what proportion of gratuities paid by credit or debit card is distributed to staff in the House of Lords.

Lord Laming: All Catering and Retail Services staff, with the exception of staff grade A and above, receive a share of gratuities and function service charges, including those paid on debit and credit cards. The formula for working out the share for each permanent member of staff is based on contracted hours and attendance. Gratuities are distributed three times a year through payroll after a 13.8% deduction for employer National Insurance, and individually-calculated deductions for employee National Insurance and income tax.A proportion of gratuities and function service charges is paid to zero hour staff (none of whom has a contractual exclusivity clause) split on a pro-rata basis according to the number of hours they have worked. Since the review referred to in my predecessor’s answer of 26 March 2015 (HL5819), the House of Lords makes no deduction for card commission.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

HMS Lenox

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Lenox Project in south-east London.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Lenox Project is an independent private enterprise project.

Ministry of Defence

Type 26 Frigates

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to place the order for the first Type 26 frigate.

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the planned build rate of the Type 26 frigate.

Earl Howe: The statement made on 23 November 2015 in the House of Commons by the Prime Minister on the outcome of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (Official Report, column 1049) set out the Government's commitment to build eight Type 26 anti-submarine warfare ships, preceded by two additional Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV), as well as the intent to develop a new light frigate programme.We have now begun detailed work to take forward the programme outlined by the Prime Minister. The impact of building the two additional OPVs on the Type 26 programme schedule, including the timing of the award of the contract to build the ships and their build schedule, will be central to this work. In due course, a revised programme will be produced and be considered through the normal investment approvals process.

Patrol Craft

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the two new offshore patrol vehicles announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review will be run operationally alongside the existing seven.

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 20 October (HL2592), whether the new offshore patrol vessels Forth, Medway, and Trent will operate in addition to the current four vessels.

Earl Howe: The three Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) currently under construction will enter service as replacements for three of the four in-service OPVs. As announced in the Strategic Defence and Security Review [Cm9161], two further River Class OPVs will be built, resulting in a more modern and more capable fleet of up to six OPVs in the Royal Navy.

HMS Ocean

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether HMS Ocean was designed and built to have a 20-year lifespan.

Earl Howe: Yes, HMS OCEAN entered service in 1998 with a specified service life, based on her build specification, of 20 years.

Nuclear Weapons

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what will be the (1) composition, (2) ownership, and (3) reporting line, of each of the two new bodies to be created to supervise the delivery programme of the successor nuclear deterrent.

Earl Howe: As set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (Cm9161), the Ministry of Defence (MOD) will establish a new team headed by an experienced commercial specialist to act as the single sponsor for all aspects of the defence nuclear enterprise, from procurement to disposal, with responsibility for submarines, nuclear warheads, skills, related infrastructure and day-to-day nuclear policy.We will strengthen our arrangements for the procurement and in-service support of nuclear submarines, establishing a new delivery body with the authority and freedom to recruit and retain the best people to manage the submarine enterprise. Options for the new organisation will be developed and assessed for a decision in 2016. The MOD will remain in control of the Successor submarine programme.

Nuclear Weapons

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the estimated cost of the nuclear deterrent successor programme has increased.

Earl Howe: Designing and building submarines is one of the largest programmes and one of the most complex activities that the Ministry of Defence and UK Industry undertakes. It is the purpose of a design phase to improve our understanding of costs and timescales, which we have now done. The current estimates reflect what we have learned since the design phase began.

Military Aircraft: Procurement

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the first UK-owned P8 Maritime Patrol aircraft will be flying operationally.

Earl Howe: Under current plans, we anticipate that the Boeing P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol Aircraft will enter service in the UK in financial year 2019-20. Exact dates are yet to be agreed between the Department and the US Department of Defense.

Cabinet Office

Freedom of Information

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what criteria they use to process requests for the disclosure of information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Government is committed to transparency and the Freedom of Information Act. Requests for information are examined on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the requirements of the Act.

Cabinet Office: Disclosure of Information

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what non-disclosure agreements the Cabinet Office made in 2003–04, and on what date each agreement was made.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.

Statutory Instruments

Lord Grocott: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stowell of Beeston on 12 November (HL3120), on which occasions since 2010 the House has withheld its agreement to an affirmative instrument.

Baroness Stowell of Beeston: The House of Lords has withheld its agreement to an affirmative instrument on two occasions since 2010: on 3 December 2012 (Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Amendment of Schedule 1) Order 2012) and on 26 October 2015 (Tax Credits (Income Thresholds and Determination of Rates) Regulations 2015).Prior to 2010, the House had withheld its agreement to an affirmative instrument on three occasions since World War II.

Department of Health

Action on Smoking and Health

Lord Naseby: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether representatives from Action on Smoking and Health were present at any meals that officials from the Department of Health had during the World Conference on Tobacco or Health between 16 and 21 March, and if so, which representatives and officials were present at each occasion.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Acting Deputy Director and Team Leader for Tobacco Control (EU) attended a dinner, hosted by the American Cancer Society, to celebrate the Luther. L. Terry award for Exemplary Leadership by a Government Ministry which was presented to the UK on 19 March at the World Conference on Tobacco and Health (WCTOH). Representatives of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), as past recipients of an award in 2012, were also present.The Acting Deputy Director presented at the WCTOH in March 2015 and the Team Leader for Tobacco Control (EU) presented at the E-cigarette Summit in November. Representatives of ASH also presented at these independent events.The Deputy Director for Tobacco Control is a member of Public Health England’s Tobacco Control Implementation Board, which also includes a representative from ASH in its membership.

Action on Smoking and Health

Lord Naseby: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the job titles of those officials within the Department of Health who have appeared on a shared public platform or conference agenda alongside representatives from Action on Smoking and Health in the last year, and at what events.

Lord Naseby: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the job titles of those officials within the Department of Health who sit on internal or external working or steering groups with representatives from Action on Smoking and Health.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Acting Deputy Director and Team Leader for Tobacco Control (EU) attended a dinner, hosted by the American Cancer Society, to celebrate the Luther. L. Terry award for Exemplary Leadership by a Government Ministry which was presented to the UK on 19 March at the World Conference on Tobacco and Health (WCTOH). Representatives of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), as past recipients of an award in 2012, were also present.The Acting Deputy Director presented at the WCTOH in March 2015 and the Team Leader for Tobacco Control (EU) presented at the E-cigarette Summit in November. Representatives of ASH also presented at these independent events.The Deputy Director for Tobacco Control is a member of Public Health England’s Tobacco Control Implementation Board, which also includes a representative from ASH in its membership.

Tobacco: Retail Trade

Lord Palmer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to quantify the overall impact on independent retailers of the tobacco control measures introduced in the last Parliament.

Lord Palmer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact that the EU Tobacco Products Directive will have on the independent retail sector in the UK.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department assesses the impact of all proposed measures before laying legislation using standard government methodology. These assessments are set out in Impact Assessments which are scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee before publication alongside the Statutory Instrument. Impact Assessments specifically look at the impacts on small and micro businesses including retailers. All of the tobacco measures contain commitments to further review the impact of the legislation within five years of them coming into force.

Hospitals: Parking

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Prior of Brampton on 23 November (HL3659), why no national assessment has been made of the effect of hospital trusts charging disabled people to park their cars, and whether they have made any regional or local assessments about that issue.

Lord Prior of Brampton: NHS trusts have the power to charge for car parking under paragraph 20 of Schedule 4 of the National Health Service Act 2006. Foundation Trusts (FTs) have similar general powers under section 43(3) of the NHS Act 2006. Individual NHS organisations decide locally whether or not to institute charges and they also carry out any assessment of the impact of such charges.As part of an assessment, trusts consider a range of factors, including the availability of parking spaces, the existence of alternative transport options and the cost of providing car parking. Such matters vary from place to place and therefore cannot be centrally assessed.In addition, as public bodies, NHS organisations must ensure they are compliant with the public sector equality duty at Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. The conduct of equality assessments is a local matter and the outcomes are not collected centrally.

Cancer

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of NHS tertiary care centres provide in-house tumour genetic testing in (1) breast cancer, (2) colorectal cancer, (3) lung cancer, and (4) melanoma.

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of NHS secondary care centres provide in-house tumour genetic testing in (1) breast cancer, (2) colorectal cancer, (3) lung cancer, and (4) melanoma.

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of NHS secondary care centres provide third-party tumour genetic testing in (1) breast cancer, (2) colorectal cancer, (3) lung cancer, and (4) melanoma.

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of NHS secondary care centres do not provide tumour genetic testing in (1) breast cancer, (2) colorectal cancer, (3) lung cancer, and (4) melanoma.

Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of eligible patients across England received access in (1) 2013, and (2) 2014, to the full range of NICE approved tumour genetic testing for (1) breast cancer in NHS tertiary centres, (2) breast cancer in NHS secondary centres, (3) colorectal cancer in tertiary centres, (4) colorectal cancer in secondary centres, (5) lung cancer in tertiary centres, (6) lung cancer in secondary centres, (7) melanoma in tertiary centres, and (8) melanoma in secondary centres.

Lord Prior of Brampton: All NHS England commissioned secondary and tertiary hospitals will be able to collect blood and/or tissue samples for the purpose of genetic testing, depending on the sampling technique required. The testing itself is however usually undertaken by commissioned genetic laboratories, which will typically serve a catchment area much greater than the hospital in which they are based. There will usually be recommended criteria in place to guide National Health Service referrals for genetic testing.In a small number of cases, usually for very rare conditions, a test may need to be sent away to a non commissioned laboratory, including some abroad and some falling within the private sector, to access expertise. Funding will, however, continue to be provided from NHS budgets.The United Kingdom is also leading the world by using cutting edge technology in the form of whole genome sequencing to transform healthcare and health research. The Prime Minister launched the 100,000 Genomes Project to bring the benefits of genome sequencing to NHS patients. The Project will sequence 100,000 whole human genomes of NHS patients with cancer or a rare disease by the end of 2017. Eleven Genomic Medicine Centres have been established across the country and are recruiting patients to this landmark project. Otherwise, NHS England does not hold data on private or self-funded care or testing commissioned from either NHS or third party laboratories.Information on the percentage of eligible patients who received access to genetic testing is not held by NHS England. Due to data protection requirements, detailed data on the reasons for referral for specific tests are not currently aggregated at national level.